Walking around the halls of the Academy, her golden blonde hair was deeply tucked inside her cap.
The tip of the cap was adjusted down to better cover her features.
Glancing down at her watch, Amy realized she was late.
No, she was late on purpose.
She was conflicted if she should go to the Academy or not.
But she decided to go anyway.
The further she delayed it, the more attention she would receive once she returned.
"Haa..."
She breathed out a sigh.
Due to the incident, she was forced to undergo counseling.
She had told the therapist that she was fine and there was no need for the treatment.
Yet her mother would say otherwise. This peeved Amy so.
She then retrieved her phone. On her phone showed the app for the group chat.
She could see that there was a red icon with the number '167' on it, indicating the amount of messages she had received in the past week.
She had avoided all of her friends, thinking they would react similarly to her mother.
Which is why she had never replied to any of their text messages.
She didn't want to be pitied just because of the incident.
She currently adorned a disguise-particularly-cap, just so she could enter the lecture room without attracting unwanted attention.
But despite her best efforts, she had still gathered the attention from the Professors she would pass by.
As soon as it happens, she would instantly shake her head, letting them understand that she didn't want them to approach her.
They would eventually nod in understanding and leave her alone.
Continuing to walk, she had finally reached the lecture room.
Peeking, the lecture had already started, but she was already aware of it.
"Haa... I should've just skipped today instead."
She breathed out a sigh.
Tap- Tap-
Suddenly, she felt soneone tapping on her shoulders, alerting her in result
"....!"
Turning around, what met her line of sight were two purple eyes who looked at her in confusion.
"...Amy?"
Amy stifled an awkward laugh while waving her hand at Claire.
"...H-hi, Claire."
Recognizing, Claire abruptly jumped Amy and embraced her tightly. "Ukh..! Good to see you t-"
"I was so worried. You haven't been replying to my or Rachel's texts!"
As Claire's tone rose, Amy warmly smiled, returning the embrace.
Her actions of avoiding them had caused them to be anxious.
If there's anything that peeved Amy, it would be the sheer act of pitying her, just like what her mother did.
But to her surprise, Claire didn't do that.
Claire pulled away from the hug and locked her gaze with Amy.
"I know you don't want to talk about what happened, so I won't mention it. But since you're safe now, please don't avoid us. We care about you."
At Claire's words, Amy looked down with a sorrowful expression.
She then lifted her head up and pursed her lips.
"Thank you, and sorry..."
"There's no need to apologize. I'm just happy that you're safe."
Claire warmly smiled as Amy returned it with a smile of her own.
Peeking inside the lecture room, Claire turned around and looked at Amy.
"Come on, the attention might be suffocating, but bear with it. It's understandable."
"...Yeah."
"But don't worry, if they make you uncomfortable, I'll intervene."
Amy nodded at Claire's words.
"Okay, thanks."
"Mhm."
At that, the two beckoned inside the lecture room.
***
"Huaaam..."
Seated in his seat, Brandon stifled a yawn.
He had stayed up all night due to the process of moving into the new apartment.
Not only that, but he was quite bored of the lecture.
For the past hour or so, the Professor continued to discuss about history, things that Brandon
already knew.
Yes, this was History Class.
His memories were quite vivid about the world's history. Which is why Brandon had studied it
in advance during his time Asami Bookstore.
He leaned down, crossing his arms on the table.
While he did so, he could feel several glances his way.
Ever since he came back to the Academy, wherever he went, he would often catch the
students' attention.
Their murmurs would often reach his ears, not like they were trying to keep it quiet.
From what he could recall, they would say things like;
"Is that him?!"
"Kyaa...! It's Brandon Locke!"
"Hey, look, it's the Tri-Elemental Mage!"
"He's even more handsome than on screen!"
It was non-verbatim, Brandon could more or less make out what they said.
Brandon would often ignore them and let out a sigh in return.
He had already expected the attention, ever since his performance in the Battle Royale.
But due to the lack of sleep, the attention irritated him to a certain degree.
It would often happen during the current lecture as well. Whatever he did, he could feel
several glances his way.
"Haa..."
He breathed out a heavy sigh.
Though, it wasn't just him receiving the attention.
Glancing at his side was Raven, who was enthusiastically listening to the lecture.
Raven had received quite the attention as well due to his own performance. Despite Brandon winning the entire Battle Royale, it was Raven who had the most kills.
Truth be told, two factions had formed.
What once was a Duelist versus Mage faction-had turned into a Raven vs Brandon faction. They would often debate about who was the real ranked 1 student of the first years.
To a certain degree, this had helped alleviate some of the discrimination among the Duelists.
There were some Duelists that supported Brandon, while there were some Mages who
supported Raven.
"The Academy should thank us for this...'
Resting his elbow on the table, he propped his head up with his hand.
Feeling drowsy, his eyelids had started to close, but would fight the urge to sleep.
'I should just nap for a while. There's no point in listening to the lecture anyway." Following that line of thought, Brandon leaned down on the table and closed his eyes.
"Akh!'
But as soon as he did, he was jolted awake, as one of the students panicked.
"Brandon's passed out! Someone save him!"
"Quickly! Call the nurse!"
Even the Professor chimed in and abruptly put his lecture on pause.
"Brando cke's passed out?!! s is an emergency!'
As their screams continued to reach his ears, Brandon lifted his head up in a daze.
"...?"
Glancing, the Professor's voice reached his ears.
"Brandon Locke? Are you alright? What happened?!"
"...Nothing, just sleepy."
"Ah, you had us worried for a second. It's fine, you can sleep."
"Really...?"
"Yes, don't let my lecture bother you now."
"...Okay."
One of the students chimed in as well.
"I'm sleepy too, Professor. Can I sleep as well?"
"No."
A flat out refusal.
It seemed like it was a privilege only for Brandon and Brandon alone.
Or maybe Raven too, but he was a good student.
Brandon just shrugged and leaned down on the table once more, closing his eyes.
From behind him, he could hear a chuckle.
"Pft..."
Noticing, Brandon peered one of his eyes open to trace the source of the chuckle.
What met his sight was Rachel who covered her mouth, struggling to hold back her laugh.
And as soon as she noticed his gaze, she instantly looked away, removing her hand from her
lips and tried to whistle.
"Fuu~ Fuu- Fuu~"
Again, the only sound Brandon could hear was wind.
Once again, he leaned down on the table to close his eyes.
Yet he was interrupted once again by Raven, who was showing his notebook for some reason.
"Hey, Brandon, what do you think about my notes-"
"Haa... Please..."
"...Okay, okay."